On a dark street where magic lamps flickered dimly.

Near a secluded back alley stood a red-haired man with his hat pulled low.

He kept looking around nervously, his legs trembling with anxiety. He repeatedly took out his pocket watch to check the time, waiting for someone.

‘The Black Hand siding with the Young Marquis? Sh*t, don’t give me that b*llshit.’

It was Dietrich Rotten.

He had received this unbelievable news from Calliphe two days ago. That the Black Hand seemed to be helping the Young Marquis, so they needed to verify it. She had asked for his cooperation.

At first, he didn’t believe it.

‘Of course not. How could the Black Hand have grown this large?’

The animal symbolizing the Black Hand is the spider.

It partly symbolizes their intricate web of transactions and information networks, but it actually served to remind them of the organization’s motto.

“Walk the line well.”

This line wasn’t about aligning with any particular faction. Doing so might allow for quick prosperity, but ultimately would reduce them to becoming that faction’s underlings.

That’s why since its founding, the Black Hand had maintained balance by switching allegiances at opportune moments.

But they never made powerful factions their enemies.

The organization’s second motto was “Maintain boundaries well.”

Though dangerous and shady, by maintaining balance while firmly controlling the underground, the Black Hand actually provided a minimum level of safety.

The current leader, Sharen, Dietrich’s birth mother, was someone who faithfully upheld these principles.

‘That’s why when I said I would become a nobleman, that old woman beat me like a dog. There’s no way she would side with the Young Marquis!’

But he couldn’t completely dismiss it because there was an informant who had recently become difficult to contact, which bothered him.

Then Calliphe had suggested:

Tell them you’ll bring a ‘guest.’

Following her advice, he immediately received a reply. Annoyingly so.

“D*mn it…”

“Young master.”

A voice suddenly spoke without any prior presence being detected.

Somehow appearing out of nowhere, the informant stood ominously a few steps away.

“It’s been a while.”

“You! Why have you been ignoring my messages all this time? Huh?”

“I’ve been busy handling urgent requests first, so I haven’t had the leisure to respond to your messages.”

“You didn’t even have time to reply?”

“Because you’re an ‘outsider,’ young master.”

Dietrich flinched. The hunched informant’s gaze was cold.

“The reason I’ve been kind enough to provide you with information until now is because I believed you would eventually inherit the Black Hand. You know that, right?”

“…Tch. Thinking whatever you want. Just get ready. When the guest arrives, we’ll immediately go to see the leader.”

“Where is this guest you mentioned?”

“They’ll be here soon.”

Of course, that ‘guest’ was Calliphe. But knowing that the Black Hand and the Young Marquis had joined forces, they couldn’t carelessly reveal her identity.

At that moment, the informant snickered.

“Is that so? Lady Calliphe Offensa seems to be running late?”

“…!”

Dietrich’s heart sank. The informant radiated strong confidence.

“You… Did you already know everything when you came here?”

“No, this was just the final confirmation.”

The informant grinned.

“Our ‘collaborator’ said that if you really moved according to Calliphe Offensa’s words…”

Shing. The informant drew a dagger and slowly approached.

“K*ll you both.”

“W-wait. Come any closer and you’re dead, got it?”

“This happens to be a good place to bury a person or two.”

Dietrich swung his fists wildly but backed up until he was cornered against a wall.

“For old times’ sake, I’ll end it quickly for you.”

“Spare me, d*mn it!”

Just as the dagger was about to plunge into Dietrich, who had crossed his arms in front of his face.

Thwack!

“Ugh?!”

A small orb flew from somewhere and struck the informant’s wrist. The informant dropped the dagger and quickly looked in the direction the orb had come from.

There stood three people, uniformly dressed in black suits.

“Who are you people!”

“That guy’s employers.”

A woman wearing black glass spectacles said while crunching on what looked like a cigarette. No, on closer inspection, it was a lollipop.

On her opposite side stood a sturdy silver-haired man. Though he seemed like a formidable fighter, strangely, his features were blurry and expressionless.

And between them, their leader was…

“A-a kid?”

The child, with a hat tilted to cover more than half their face, muttered:

“Leave the dagger, take the candy.”

“Candy…?”

Now he realized the orb that had hit the informant’s wrist was actually candy.

“Ha, are you kids playing games?”

“…”

Noah remained silent. With his face partially hidden by his tilted hat, he slowly stroked the sky-blue slime he held in his arms like a cat.

In truth, he was extremely nervous, trying not to make any mistakes while reciting the lines Calliphe had instructed him to say.

He had insisted on coming along when they tried to leave him behind, so he needed to do well without making mistakes.

Noah emphasized each part of his speech, speaking slowly to avoid making any errors. This created an unintentionally composed gravitas.

“I’m making you an offer you can’t refuse.”

“…”

The informant’s eye twitched.

‘That’s not something a child would say.’

There was a powerful charisma more compelling than any lengthy speech.

The tone and content were suited to a seasoned organization boss.

“You will welcome us as guests and quietly guide us to where we want to go. That’s my offer.”

There was no need to mention what would happen if he refused. Behind them, the silver-haired man quietly raised his scabbard.

The three people remained silent, suggesting no further words were necessary.

The child boss and the two adults standing guard over the child still looked bizarre. Suspicious.

Yet paradoxically, they inspired a strange sort of credibility.

‘It could all be a disguise. But putting a child forward as the boss would only invite suspicion, so why?’

If he were creating a disguise, he would certainly have placed an adult in the boss position. That would be more natural.

‘Despite that, if they deliberately put forward a child… maybe it’s actually true.’

It could be a case where someone inherited the boss position at a young age. Though rare at such a young age, it wasn’t impossible if there were capable subordinates backing them.

‘Come to think of it, I’ve occasionally seen people in the market who deliberately hide their abilities by appearing young or childlike.’

Wasn’t that why he developed the habit of being suspicious?

Right then, Dietrich bent his waist at a right angle before the child boss.

“Boss! I apologize for showing you such a scene. This person wouldn’t believe what I said. It’s all this b*stard’s fault.”

Inwardly, Dietrich was screaming, ‘What organization costume is this?! Aren’t these people insane?!’ But he quickly read the atmosphere.

Thanks to this, the informant cleared his throat, seemingly giving more weight to his suspicions. The mockery disappeared from his expression.

“…So you were the guests the young master mentioned. I apologize. The current political climate is unstable, so I was suspicious.”

“…”

“If I may ask, what is the name of your organization?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be the informant?”

The woman elegantly pushed up her black glasses with her fingertip and smiled.

“Or are you so incompetent that you need to directly ask for information about your guests?”

“…”

Seeing the silver-haired man and the child boss silently agreeing, the informant’s eyes narrowed. It seemed the woman unexpectedly held significant influence.

The fact that someone who appeared to handle intelligence rather than muscle was influential also lent credence to the theory that they were organization members.

“I apologize for my rudeness. Let me escort you inside.”

However, the informant hadn’t completely abandoned his final suspicion that they might be Calliphe Offensa’s group.

Two adults and one child. The composition was the same.

“But before that, I’d like to verify your identities once with our information.”